Source:
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/nab-2014-sony-unites-products-213000047.html

The PXW-X180 Handheld Solid-State Memory Camcorder features a newly developed 25x optical zoom Sony G Lens with 26 mm wide angle. The PXW-X180 records in MPEG HD422 at 50 Mbps, a format widely preferred by broadcasters and production houses today, and XAVC Intra 4:2:2 and Long GOP, which enables 10-bit sampling for high-definition recording with rich tonal expression. It can also record AVCHDTM and DV. Wireless file transfer of captured files is also enabled to help the workflow.

The PXW-X180 is the first Sony professional camcorder to feature a new variable neutral density (ND) filter. This new device has been developed to electronically control density and enable continuous setting adjustment from 1/4ND to 1/128ND with simple dial operation. Using the filter in conjunction with different iris and shutter speed settings, depth of field and brightness can be adjusted. This allows the use of shooting techniques such as slow shutter shooting as desired in daylight and other bright light conditions.

Here's the product info from Sony's page:

Sony Product Detail Page NEWPROD2014 (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/mkt-nab2014/mkt-nab2014new/product-NEWPROD2014/?prd=PXWX180)

Nice camcorder! If I was in the market for 3 1/3" chips I'd definitely consider it.

This is something I'd be interested in buying. I and an associate both have our NX5U's already, so as tempting as the Panasonic PX270 is, I'd prefer to use Sony and not mix brands for multi-cam shoots.

here is a better info about the PXW-X180

PXW-X180 (PXWX180) : Features : United Kingdom : Sony Professional (http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/product/broadcast-products-camcorders-xdcam/pxw-x180/features#features)
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Hans

"The bite rate of XAVC recording is 111 or 112 Mbps at 1080/59.94i or 50i and 89, or 112 Mbps at 1080/23.98P or 25p......The 3G-SDI connector is able to output the 1080/59.94P or 50P signal"

I am a bit confused now: Does this mean no 1080/59.94P or 50P internal recording?

I wonder if this is meant to compete with the XF200 or the PX-270? If the latter then maybe this will have forced Canon's hand to release an XF400? I guess we will know shortly...

Looks like a really nice replacement for the NX5U and PMW160 and in one camera.

Ron Evans

This looks like it might be a good companion for my Ex1r... assuming that the "MPEG HD 420 35 Mbps" option is akin to, if not the same, as XDCAM EX?

This quote from sony.co.uk (http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/product/broadcast-products-camcorders-xdcam/pxw-x180/overview) shows where they think it fits into their range: "As the successor to the HVR-Z7E, HXR-NX5E and PMW-150, the PXW-X180 has a lot of attractive features..."

Interesting that the XAVC Intra and XAVC Long GOP codecs are offered in addition to the legacy XDCAM MPEG2 variants (50Mbps 422, 35Mbps 420, 25Mbps HDV), AVCHD and even SD DVCAM. Not sure exactly what the memory slots are or which formats can be sent to which slots. Am I right that Sony now officially support SD-card adaptors for their SxS slots?

It's even got a LANC socket! Mind you, I'll bet all that backward compatibility comes at a price. There are probably some good deals on end-of-line Z5, NX5 and PMW150s at the moment...

eh, seems another required stepping stone, 25x optical is darn nice, but overall just another solid eng cam

Up for pre-order at B&H now for $5,995. Sony PXW-X180 Full HD XDCAM Handheld Camcorder PXW-X180 B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1044780-REG/sony_pxw_x180_xdcam_handheld_camcorder.html/BI/19641/KBID/12197)

I wonder if I will live long enough to see someone do a variable gain that mimics how the variable ND works on this camera. Tradition dies hard.

Looks interesting. Though I'm still waiting on a Z7U body & lens w/ 1920x1080 chips & completely tapeless.

Did the Z7 just not sell well enough? I just don't know why we have a half dozen uni-body Sony cameras, and only the PMW-300 w/ interchangeable lenses.

The Z7 was super small by comparison to the EX3, so between the physical size & the 1/3" it would offer something different than the PMW300.

The first thing that stood out for me when I saw this at NAB was its size. It's more massive than my EX-1!

The card slots are SxS, but the camera is supplied with an SD card adapter. Via a different adapter you can also use XQD cards. The card format is now ExFat, no UDF so it may even be possible to record 50Mbps 422 XDCAM on SD cards for the first time.

The card slots can be controlled independently. One via the Rec button on the hand grip, the other by the Rec button on the top handle. This way you can shoot long clips on one card and shorter clips on the other, or dual record for an instant backup.

There's an MI shoe to connect accessories like a UWP-D radio mic. The mic is powered from the shoe and audio connected via the shoe, so no cables.

The camera looks bigger than it really is. It's about the same length as an EX1/PMW-200 but very slightly fatter. The boxy design makes it look bigger than it really is. In the hand it's comfortable to hold, the large flat base makes it stable on a tripod.

I note the mic holder has come down from the periscoping PMW-200. Wonderfully, this camera is 12v using BP batteries.

Did Sony also respond to PMW-200 criticism and fix the external power connector to be outside the battery compartment as they did with the PMW-300?

The power connector appears to be under a cover at the bottom of the rear panel of the camera, below the HDMI and audio out. I notice Sony have even added a little bar to attach cables to with velcro straps to act as strain relief. At least that's what I think the bar is for.

OK,...I'm probably WAY out there on this thought but.......

I see a cooling vent/fan on the right-rear body side. Hmm,.....why? We can be certain that three 1/3 inch sensors wont need that. Is that for the CODEC circuit to keep cool?

Sony lists the "effective" pixel count to be 2 million per sensor. (For 1080 shooting, yes this very nice)

However,...and here goes the "crazy" part: "Effective" almost never means "actual" in legal marketing talk.

Could these sensors really contain 8 million "actual" pixels each?

This camera was protected under glass at NAB. Is it a wild and crazy idea to possibly suspect that a quick firmware change will turn this PXW - "X" 180 into a future 4K camera? And this is why it needs that cooling vent/fan?

I also see no mention of a "Bionz X" processor either. Hmmm.

You are free to throw all the rotten tomatoes you want at me now!! ;-)

CT lol

Edit: Or,...could there be a sister "Z" 180 model released with the firmware that "unlocks" 4K? We all know Sony traditionally loves to share lenses, parts, circuit boards and bodies with other cameras in their fleet. (It's smart and cost effective...so that's not a crazy idea) How much do you want to bet that the processing power is in there and the full 4k codec chips are in there too. Judging by the size of that rear end,...heat dissipating ability might be there too. Will the sensors have 8 "real" MP each?

I see a cooling vent/fan on the right-rear body side. Hmm,.....why? We can be certain that three 1/3 inch sensors wont need that. Is that for the CODEC circuit to keep cool?


The Panasonic AC160A, SONY PMW-200, and Canon XF200/205 use vents/fans, and they're not setup for 4K.

I think it's because they are pushing these small sensor cameras as far as they can, efficiency-wise.

I think that the fan is needed to cool the unit when encoding XAVC intra as this will be over 120Mbps, I think. Looks like the same sort of fan unit on the Z100 and my AX1. If those sensors really have more pixels then they will not have good low light performance just like the similar size sensors on the PXW Z100 and the FDR-AX1. They would be 3 sensors so a little better.

Ron Evans

Can anyone else confirm this uses BP-U? Could they use the same NXCAM-based body for 1/2'' perhaps?

I believe it's BP-U. It's part of the XDCAM line so it should be BP-U.

The NXCAM based body is what's making me question whether it is BP-U or not. B&H also assumes L-series since there is no concrete info online about it, and the only accounts are from those that went to NAB.

This video from NAB shows it to be a BP-U30. VideON | Announcing Vegas Pro 13! | NAB 2014 (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/video/collections-nab2014/?pageno=3&navId=4294962075&sort=recent&view=grid&tp=true) This seems to always go to the Vegas 13 announcement but there are set of videos at the bottom of this page one of which is the PXW-X180.

Ron Evans

Edit: Here is a link that shows it with a BP-U60 http://cvp.com/index.php?t=video/nab+2014+-+sony+pxw-x180//autoplay

B&H shows an NP-F970 as an accessory battery for the PXW-X180. Are NP and BP battery packs interchangeable, or does B&H have it wrong? It would be nice if it can use (cheaper) NP batteries, I would be able to use them from my NX5U then.

B&H has it wrong it looks like. NP and BP are not exchangeable. BP is slightly wider than L-series. I've tried, they don't fit. B&H were also the source for my confusion too.

I on the other hand locked into BP-U batteries (I converted a Flolight to BP-U just for my own purposes) and welcome that they're sticking to BP-U batteries.

It's definitely BP-U. It is an XDCAM camcorder.

But here's confirmation from Sony:

PXW-X180 (PXWX180) : Accessories : Other : Sony Professional (http://www.pro.sony.eu/pro/lang/en/eu/product/broadcast-products-camcorders-xdcam/pxw-x180/accessories#accessories)

Alister, just saw your sample footage from the camera and it does look pretty good. Some detail was lost in the process of being delivered for YouTube, but at a short glance, it seems the over-sharpening issues I've seen on previous Sony cams have all been solved.

Can you confirm you can record HD422 (not XAVC) in exFAT on a SDXC card?

Looking very forward to if there's a 1/2'' variant to be released possibly next year.

Can you confirm you can record HD422 (not XAVC) in exFAT on a SDXC card?

I don't believe that will ever be possible, meaning exFAT. Pretty sure UDF is a requirement for the file structure that Sony has implemented with XDCamHD. Remember that XDCam is more than just a codec.

I don't believe that will ever be possible, meaning exFAT. Pretty sure UDF is a requirement for the file structure that Sony has implemented with XDCamHD. Remember that XDCam is more than just a codec.

The ability to use a multitude of codecs is fantastic and perhaps better still is the fact that you can use SDXC cards for XDCAM or XAVC at up to 50Mb/s, so even XDCAM HD422 can be recorded on this low cost media.

Sample Footage from PXW-X180 XAVC/XDCAM/AVCHD camcorder. | XDCAM-USER.COM (http://www.xdcam-user.com/2014/06/sample-footage-from-pxw-x180-xavcxdcamavchd-camcorder/)

Can you confirm this, Alister?

Yes this is true. Sony are moving away from UDF with the XAVC equipped cameras and using ExFat. SDXC works with ExFat, so can be used for bit rates up to 50MB/s, so XDCAM at 50Mb/s and XAVC at up to 50Mb/s works on SDXC with the PXW-X180 and X160. Newer XAVC/XDCAM camcorders have a new file structure that places an "XDROOT" folder on the card and then the old XDCAM file structure sits inside that.

It's a great new camcorder, the video is amazingly clean and noise free.

Huh. Didn't see that coming. Thanks for the insight, Alister.

I'd love to see a comparison between this camera and the Panasonic AJ-PX270. The specs are very close, as is the pricing. Gotta love some competition!

Will this camera ship fully functional? The Panasonic did not. In particular, the Panny doesn't fully support it's AVC-LongG25 and AVC-LongG50 CODECs. Still. Disappointing, because those are the CODECs I find most interesting.

It'll be interesting to see if Sony learns from Panny's mistake and brings a finished X180 to market.

"The bite rate of XAVC recording is 111 or 112 Mbps at 1080/59.94i or 50i and 89, or 112 Mbps at 1080/23.98P or 25p......The 3G-SDI connector is able to output the 1080/59.94P or 50P signal"

I am a bit confused now: Does this mean no 1080/59.94P or 50P internal recording?

From the spec sheet http://www.sony.co.uk/res/attachment/file/25/1237492945225.pdf

59.94P/50P for AVCHD 1920x1080 at 28 Mbps max

59.94P/50P for XAVCLong 1920x1080 at 50/35 Mbps max

The last line suggests 1080p60 or 1080p50 at 50 Mbps . I'd jump on 1080p60 4:2:2 at 160 Mbps (1/3 higher data rate for 4:2:2) internal recording upgrade to an EX1 or EX3. Looks like an external recorder will be needed.

Unfortunately, the current crop of 1/2'' sensors in the PMW-200 and PMW-300 don't support 1080p60 hardware wise. There has to be new sensors in order for there to be a 1/2'' variant.

The Intra bitrates don't support 1080p60. I would have expected this to support higher frame rates, since the Z100 supports 60p in Intra mode.

B&H just dropped their pre-order price from $5999 to $4999. It's getting more tempting to replace my trusty NX5U with the PXW-X180.

$4999 is quite an aggressive price. I wonder if it will hold through release? This camera has a lot of good stuff in it as does the Panny PX-270. These two models will have a battle royal for the space for sure.

The price for the PMW-X160 will be interesting when posted.

Ron Evans

B&H just dropped their pre-order price from $5999 to $4999.

Nice! I wonder how Panasonic will respond to that. Think the price on the Panny AJ-PX270 will also drop? Gotta love the competition!

Looks like it already it has. From 5750 to 5250. Wonder which one came 1st.

Panasonic AJ-PX270 microP2 Handheld AVC-ULTRA HD AJ-PX270 B&H

This is kind of dangerous and odd behavior be these companies. They are playing with their integrity dropping the prices so much, so quickly. With this type of behavior they are training people to NOT order their products until a certain period after they are released. And, offend the loyal customers that already purchased only a month or two ago.

I don't think I have ever seen a $1,000 price drop on a $6,000 (new) camera or a $500 price drop two months after release. Is the market that soft?

It's probably just the street price for the PXW-180. At $6,000 MSRP they wouldn't move against the PMW-200/300. At a street price of $5K it's much easier to move units. Now if there was another $1K price drop 2 months after release then I'd be concerned.

I need advice on what camera to purchase. My choices are the Panasonic AJ-PX270 or the Sony PXW-X180.

I’m a second year film student who has shot several shorts and own a Canon 60D. I want a prosumer video camera for run-n-gun, documentary, and event videos.

My budget allows me to spend about $6,000 for a camera. (I'm not a broke college student and I will not be going into debt for this). I have other money budgeted for other equipment. I’m looking down the road to have a professional camera to work with now and later to make money with.

I know it is hard to talk about the Sony camera when it hasn't been released yet. I can wait until it is to make my purchase if I went with the Sony. I’ve done my research but would like the thoughts of experienced and professional video shooters on these two cameras. Thanks.

John

I have the panasonic and its the best camera I ever had even in low light its amazing :)

I need advice on what camera to purchase. My choices are the Panasonic AJ-PX270 or the Sony PXW-X180.

If you have to buy something right now, the choice is made for you. You can buy the Panny today, the Sony isn't out yet.

If you don't need to buy something today, then wait. Give Panny time to fix their LongGOP CODECs so you get all the frame rates, and give Sony time to hit the market and get that camera into the hands of the early adopters who can then report back to us.

Since I need a camera sooner than later, I've decided to get the Panasonic. From the reviews I've read, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

I appreciate your comments.

John

Alister or anyone with Sony connections... can you please request they include Proxy mp4 recordings transfer to LAN/NAS... either "Last Clip" by assignable button ala Canon XF200/205 or better yet, selectable Automatic Transfer. For the work I do, this is very important for clients.

Has anyone purchased one of these cameras yet? I'm thinking of picking one very soon and they're currently in stock at BH Photo.

I was all set to buy one, but I decided to save some money by continuing to use my NX5U and suppliment that with an RX100 m3.

There will be a firmware update for the X180 that will enhance it's streaming and proxy capabilities coming soon. I believe automatic upload of proxies is one of the features that will be included.